1. I have never regretted not having children.
2. I could spend 24/7 in front of the computer.
3. I consider a soft pretzel and a coke slurpee the perfect meal.
4. Some of my very best friends I met from being a fan of Kevin Spacey's.
5. In my younger days I was a Bay City Roller fan and yes-I had roller gear.
6. Ever since I was little I've been interested (and totally believe) in the paranormal.
7. I lost 40 lbs. on Weight Watchers and became a lifetime member in August 2011. I've gained most (but not all) back and am working on getting that back off for life!
8. Loverboy is my favorite band and has been since the 80's.
9. My long time friend Gwen I've never met. We've been pen pals since we were 13! Though now we keep in touch online.
10. I'm a HUGE Walking Dead fan. Both TV and comics.
11. I'm a HUGE Kevin Spacey fan.
12. I worked at Burger King for 6 years. Started as a regular employee and then became a shift manager.
13. I worked at the YMCA for 12 years. I started at the front desk and ended as the Membership/Programs Secretary.
14. I've been at my current job for 15 years - Sr. Office Associate at a county detention center.
15. I use to babysit CC - okay, they really paid me to play with her (tease, tease).
16. Rum and Diet Coke is my favorite alcohol drink. I also love Asti.
17. Hubby and I met via a mutual friend.
18. I live in a small house. I'm hoping to have a blog on small house living sometime this year.
19. I love the beach!
20. I've always wanted to visit Ireland, Scotland and England; but never have :(
21. My wedding dress cost $40 and came from the clearance rack at Sears.
22. Though I didn't have children; I acquired a stepson and stepdaughter when I got married. They are both adults now and married. My three grandsons are from my stepdaughter.
23. I love animals and actually prefer them to most people. Currently we have 3 dogs: Toby, Keyser and Lucy; 2 cats: Cooper and Joppa; an aquatic turtle: Bob; a Betta Fish: Merle2; and a foster kitty (pending us adopting her): Sookie.
24. I have 2 nieces and a nephew on my family's side; and a niece and nephew from hubby's side.
25. I have 2 great nephews on my side; and a great niece on hubby's side.
26. I'm the youngest of 4 girls.
27. I graduated in 1982.
28. I attended junior college for one semester.
29. I love to take pictures and have more than one camera.
30. I love to cook, but hate to bake.
31. I'm a firm believer that dusting is a waste of time - it always comes back so maybe it's suppose to be there???
32. I'm a Christian but not a church goer. I use to love church until they became too political.
33. Sometimes things come out of my mouth that shouldn't; but I'm sure everyone else was thinking it!
34. I have a pet peeve about people who are always late.
35. I hate cold weather and snow & ice.
36. I enjoy taking meeting minutes - and thus, it is one of my duties at work.
37. Myrtle Beach is my favorite vacation that after my first time there, I've never vacationed anywhere else.
38. When I was little a vacation was a one day trip to Hershey Park, PA. Looked forward to it every year.
39. My Mom is the best cook EVER!
40. Christmas is just not my favorite time of the year.
41. I really do enjoy Weight Watchers and think it's the best weight loss program out there.
42. CC besides being my BFF & Partner In Crime is also my 2nd Cousin (CC stands for Cousin Chris).
43. I dyed my hair for the first time ever in 2013.
44. I think Netflix is one of the best inventions.
45. My Wii Fit collects dust.
46. I always feel so bad leaving the dogs at the kennel when we vacation.
47. I'm a registered Democrat.
48. I worry more about the animals dying in movies than I do the people.
49. It does not bother me at all that I'm turning 50.
50. The dogs actually HAVE ate the sofa! Actually, more than one.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Friday, January 24, 2014

So last night's weigh-in wasn't quite as great as last week's, only down .6 this week...but at least it was a loss!

Let's discuss excuses when coming for Weight Loss.

Nothing irritates me more, than sitting in a meeting, having someone that is struggling looking for advice, and then shooting down all advice with the can'ts and don't likes. (BTW this didn't happen at the meeting, but it has before and I've seen the same thing on message boards).

I'm talking about the person that "claims" they are following program and it's not working....or the person that is struggling because of <insert it here>.

Let's start with the first person: Are you sure you're following the program to a tee? Using your dailys, weeklys, earned activity points and no more? Are you getting all the Good Health Guidelines in? The 2 healthy oils, 3-5 veggies/fruits, 2 dairies, 6 liquids and multi-vitamin? Are you eating lean meats? Are you weighing and measuring? Are you honestly using the correct point value? If you can answer yes to all these questions - perhaps Weight Watchers isn't the weight loss program for you.

The next one is the nay-sayer. You know the one that asks for advice and turns down everything you offer:

"Perhaps you should replace some of you fruit intake with veggies.""I hate vegetables."

"I travel all day in the car, so it's hard to stay on program."
"Get yourself a little cooler for in the car and pack some healthy things and sandwiches.""I hate sandwiches." "I don't have the time to pack things, I work long hours."
You know the person - doesn't matter what you offer, they can't do it. They want to lose the weight by doing everything they have been doing.

I'm going to tell you something - doing what you have been doing is how you gained weight. So that should tell you that that isn't going to work. You need to make the changes necessary, if you want the change. And that means YOU have to say "can" instead of "can't".

Let's start with vegetables. I'm not a veggie person either. The ones I like tend to be the ones that aren't the best ones (potatoes, corn, peas); but I've learned to eat others. I hate green beans...but they are on every menu, so I order them and eat them. I still hate them, but I eat them. Spinach - blah! But I've learned that a handful of fresh spinach blended with my smoothie is undetectable. I can eat raw vegetables, so they replace a side of chips/pretzels with my lunch. Get online, look up new recipes and you will be amazed how those hated vegetables can actually taste good!

You can't eat all your meals out - you just can't. I know traveling makes things difficult, but weight loss requires planning and frankly, if you don't want to take the time to do that, you're probably not in the right mind set to lose weight.

Weight Loss requires sacrifice. That doesn't mean you have to give up your favorite foods, but it does mean you're going to have to work to get to where you want; and if you can't - well then you won't.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Okay this one you have to look closely - but I am in it! See the girl in the front 3rd from the left dressed in black shirt and white pants? I'm directly behind her. This was from my 30th High School Reunion - just love all these people!

Friday, January 17, 2014

So my first week being back at Weight Watchers and taking it totally seriously resulted in a 2.2 lb. loss!
Not bad considering I not only used all daily points but all weeklies as well.

I'll admit, it could of been more of a loss....but I had a movie night with CC plus we did lunch one day and I had dinner one evening with Kim. But....I did lose; and there's proof you can eat normally without making sacrifices and still lose.

My weeks start on Friday. I chose Friday because I weigh-in on Thursday evening and can start fresh the next day. Plus having the weekend (my heaviest eating days) at the beginning of the week is rather helpful.
Sometimes you just have to work around things to see what works best for you as it is different for everyone.

I still hate the message boards at the official WW site though - those people are just rude.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Sunday, January 12, 2014

I was over on the Weight Watcher message board and notice A LOT of questions in regards to their Simple Start plan. The plan was designed to be just that "simple"; but way too many people are over thinking it.

1. Read the material. It will answer most if not all your questions.

2. The material is pretty straight forward. You are given menus to choose from for all meals as well as snacks. Don't like the menu options? They have a 2 page spread telling you how to build a meal for each meal type.

3. You are given 7-points daily to use for indulgences.

Simple Start is a two week program to get you started. After the 2 weeks you can continue with it, go right into the Simply Filling Plan (which is what Simple Start is based on) or move onto the total points plan.

Yes - it's THAT simple. Don't over think it.

As for me.....

I'm still doing the point tracking. I just prefer it. I am watching my power food intake though. Power Foods are what Simple Start and Simply Filling are base on. Power Foods will keep you filling fuller longer and are healthier options. For instance, this morning breakfast was:

Counting points that cost me 7 pts. HOWEVER, were I doing Simple Start or Simply Filling - it wouldn't cost me anything - everything is a power food and you don't have to count your first 2 tsp. of oil. So my whole breakfast would of been considered Simple Start/Simply Filling.

So why track points? It's a preference really, it just makes me more accountable of what is going in my mouth. But I think Simple Start is a good plan and if you can continue on from there without the point tracking then go for it!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

So Thursday we finally made it back to Weight Watchers (remember it snowed last week). The place was packed and we discovered our favorite check-in person Joseph had moved to Florida. But despite the crowd we managed through the meeting.

A few posts back I mentioned I had bought the new Weight Watchers kit. One of the items in the kit is the 12 week journal for tracking. I'm normally the smart phone/internet tracker and though I still use those methods I decided for at least the initial 12 weeks I would use the journal as well.

First the cons:
1. The journal is not pocket size like the old one. Unless you have a huge purse, this one isn't going to fit. If you're a guy - it won't fit in a shirt or jacket pocket either. C'mon Weight Watchers, you had it right once before - why the change?
2. There's no place to track your weight in it. I mean seriously, only one page is needed for that. Oh there's a place to log your pounds lost each week; but ONE page you can look at and see your progress doesn't exist.

Now the good stuff:
Each week you have a week at a glance calendar. At the top you can write in any special events, parties, etc.. that are happening during the week which in turn helps to plan your day and week accordingly. There's a place to write in Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks that are planned for the week (not necessary to add point values here - it's the planning stage); an area for planned activity and an area showing how you plan on breaking up your weekly allowance of points.

There's a page for notes and dishes you plan to make that week. Next to that is a page for a grocery list.
Then begins the daily point tracker pages. Each week ends with a Weekly Wrap-up page where you list your losses/gains, meeting notes, anything you've learned during the week and an area to mark off you weekly points as you use them and the earns/uses of activity points.

I really think this tracker is rather useful and other than the 2 things mentioned above, is worth the purchase.
I've seen these being sold separately from the kit.

Another thing in the kit is the spiral book "Find Your Fingerprinting"-Your Guide To Making Weight Watchers Work For You. A very good read with worksheets throughout to help you on your journey. I've only seen this available with the kit.

Another book in the kit is the "Master Your Meals and Snacks" recipe book. 50 recipes are in here to be used with Simple Start (or any other time). I've found quite a few I want to try. I don't know if this is available outside the kit.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Sunday, January 5, 2014

A photo of all of us. For the record, my two sisters dressed alike are not twins...however, they were born only 10 months apart and my mother always dressed them alike growing up. Personality wise they couldn't be more different.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Friday, January 3, 2014

Another Christmas photo of me with two of my older sisters (in case you're wondering I have 3 older sisters, I'm the youngest) in front of the cardboard fireplace. The three small stockings I think were for our pets...but I only remember 1 cat and 1 dog...have no idea who the third one was for.

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Always check with your doctor before starting any weight loss program. Pick the program that you can do for a LIFETIME. Weight Loss is not a temporary situation - once you get it off, you want to keep it off!